The Preparation
by TWILIGHTreader1
Summary: A more in-dept take on the movie Descendants. In this scene, Evie is helping Mal get ready for her first date with Ben, but she is less than enthusiastic by the turn of events her spell has taken. This, however, might have more to do with Mal's tormenting past, then she let's on. Can Evie help cheer up her friend, before the prince arrives? (UPDATED: new part added!)


**Hello readers!**

 **I am a huge fan of the movie Descendants, but I felt like the movie could have added more dept in the story. Disney touched breifly on many issues that causes someone to feel unloved and turn to evil, but never really explained them (especially the soul-wrenching task of living with hard to please parents). So I began to ponder: what if the story was written for a more mature audience, in which each scene would dive deeper into how much the children on the Isle suffered. In addition to what it was truly like to try and change from being evil into someone good, especially if abuse, torture, and cruelty were all they knew.**

 **This will be a series of one-shots that either further develops a part in the movie or a completely new scene that will help explain a scene from said movie. These will be published as separate stories, but I will indicate which order they should be read.**

 **If this collection of stories gathers enough interested readers, I might rewrite the whole Descendants movie with more dept, especially character developement. (The movie made it seem so simple to change from villains to heros, like flicking a light switch. I feel however that such a process would have been much harder for the four teens who only knew evil.)**

 **TRIGGER WARNING** **: I will be writing about abuse (both physical and mental), slight torture (aka punishments that the four VKs had to indure during their childhood), neglect, and basically living in a world were love does not exist (you can use your imagination on what that might means). There will be no rape in this story. That's too evil even for me to write. Those four suffered enough. NOTE: not all the stories in this collection will have these elements in them.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own descendants or any of these characters (unfortunately). The idea for these stories is based on the movie Descendants. This is just a rewrite of a previously told story.**

 **Lastly, enjoy and let me know what you think. :)**

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(UPDATED: I felt like the story was missing something, so I added in a new part. Over 800 more words to be exact. ;) ENJOY!)

The Preparation

"Ugh! Is all this really necessary?" Mal was growing impatient. She never thought that when she had put a spell on Ben to make him love her, she'd actually have to pretend to love him back. This was becoming more trouble then it was worth. Mal had no interest in boys, least of all do-gooder princes who always had to be so happy all the time.

It had been nearly two hours of Evie plucking, and pulling, and tying, and brushing, and God knows what else. The blue-haired girl insisted that Mal had to look her best for her _very first date_ or so Evie had squealed earlier-something about princes always made the girl a little too hyper. She had some how entrapped Mal into going along with this ridiculous preparation for something that was entirely meaningless.

 _What a waste of time,_ Mal thought, _This is for the wand. I need to do this to get the wand._ At least, that was what she was trying to convince herself of. After all, was going on a date with Ben _really_ necessary. But if the girl actually felt anything but repulsion for what was about to happen, she didn't show it. Villains don't go on dates, and they _don't_ get excited over spending time with a boy. That much was clear.

Mal was growing tired of waiting for her friend to finish up... but that was 30 mins ago. Now, she was ready to torch something, preferably Evie's new ensemble that the little vixen had some how tricked Mal into. "Evie! ENOUGH! It's not like the spell will break, if I'm wearing the wrong lipstick." Mal had her arms crossed, glaring at her roommate, while the aforementioned villain just pouted. "The whole point of that damn spell was that I wouldn't actually need to do anything to convince him that I should be his..." Mal hesitated before spitting the last word out with venom, "...girlfriend." It still left a bad taste in her mouth.

Finally fed up, Mal stood from the chair the other girl had pushed her into, when she was attempting to transform her hair into something _date worthy_ as Evie called it. She walked over to the full length mirror in their room, just next to the window. Mal took one look at her reflection and stood shock still, before she remembered to sneer.

Mal continued glaring at her reflection, trying to convince herself that this was just part of the plan that she didn't expect, nothing else. It wasn't like she actually _wanted_ to go on a date with Ben; that would be ridiculous. She was a villain; she was evil, and that meant no feelings. Everything was falling perfectly into place. It wasn't like Jay was distracted with Tourney, and Carlos with his video games, and Evie with her dress designs. The four delinquents would take over Auradon, proving how nasty and rotten they really were, and their parents would have to be proud of them.

Mal didn't want to admit it, but she really cared what her mother thought. She would prove herself; she had to. Mal looked down at the palm of her left hand, where the aftermath of her latest failure resided: Maleficent wasn't the forgiving type. And this time, if Mal didn't succeed, another burn mark would be the last thing the purple-haired teen needed to worry about. Mal clutched her scarred fist and brought it down to her side as she scowled at her own disgraceful appearance, because right now, she looked the farthest thing from a villain.

After being scolded, Evie had stood their quietly sulking at not finishing her most coveted ambition: making-over Mal. The evil princess knew how much pressure the other girl was under, and she just wanted her to feel beautiful, to feel powerful, and what better way, then through a make-over. Even though Mal clearly saw this as nothing more than a waste of time, Evie still insisted on it. After all, what are "besties" for.

Evie looked down at her make-up set, which sadly made her think of her own mother. That woman was oppressive and suffocating on a good day; nonetheless, she still loved her. But what she was coming to understand since moving to Auradon was that her mother's concern over Evie's appearance wasn't the same thing as actually caring for her daughter. In truth, that dreadful woman never once showed any affection towards her, not the way her friends had at least. _They_ had her back; _they_ protected her.

She would never forget what they did for her when the Evil Queen had forced Evie into another crash diet. It wasn't the first time she tried this, but for some reason, the beauty-obsessed queen was more insistent then before. She even locked the young princess in her room, because, apparently, even her own daughter couldn't be trusted to stick to her inhumanly strict diet regimen on her own. According to that woman, Evie was a disappointment when it came to doing what was needed to be done to maintain her beauty.

Being a disgrace wasn't enough though, Evie evidently was also fat, as her mother coinstantly informed her. To anyone else, the young villain was the prime example of beauty and health, but to her mother, she wasn't as anorexically thin as she should be. As a result, she had only allowed Evie to have a glass of mucky water and a rotten apple all day for over a month. It was Mal that had snuck into the castle every night with Jay and Carlos, smuggling moldy bread pudding, sour apple turnovers-Evie's favorite treat, and the least bruised fruits and vegetables that they could steal. _If only, they were her family,_ Evie thought sullenly.

Yet, even after all that, this was nothing compared to Mal's mother. Maleficent will forever outrank the Evil Queen in _The Worst Mother of the Year_ award. Evie could never forget how furious the woman was with Mal, when she only managed to get an "Above Average" in her end of the year evil scheme project in Lady Tremaine's class** and not an "Exceptional," even though she had scored far higher than anyone in her class. Apparently, that wasn't evil enough in her eyes, and Mal had to be punished for not rising to the challenge.

That evil fairy had her daughter stand in the middle of town (if you could call it that) and forced her to hold a fireball in her bare hand. (Evie still wasn't sure how Maleficiant got her hands on that, since there was no magic on the Isle. Though, truthfully it looked more like a huge rock coated in a chemical solution that would burn painstakingly long when lighted.) She then directed Mal to choose a target and throw that damn thing at it. Even as the skin melted from her left palm, Mal refused to show any pain.

In hopes of impressing her mother, the teen chose the second floor of the Slop Shop: everyone's favorite early-morning and late-night spot. She thought that such a location would cause the most anguish to the islanders, and therefore, impress her mother. Mal had no intentions of destroying it completely, since she still wanted her daily fix of overly burnt mud coffee. That is why she settled for partial destruction of parperty; it would cause enough damage and chaos that it would surely please the most cold-hearted bystander. This turned out to be a miscalculation as Maleficent was more disgusted then pleased by her choice. Mal had neither directed her ball of fire at a living being nor had she burned that dreadful place to the ground. In her eyes, Mal was as soft as those do-gooders over on the mainland. "What a disappointment you are," Malificent had managed to hiss at her daughter, before having her dragged and locked in the cold, dark dungeon of the Bargain Castle, chained to the wall. It was Maleficent's version of being grounded. For two weeks, she was allowed no food or water, only rats to keep her company. It was a kind of solitary confinement that made prison more appealing.

Evie, Jay, and Carlos tried to sneak in to break her out or, in the very least, cheer her up, but Mal refused to speak to them. Worse yet, when she finally did get out, the girl was colder and more determined in her scheming than before, if that's even possible. Never once did she complain of her wounds, even though it became painfully infected after improper care, leaving a horribly disfiguring scar. At least the Evil Queen would never disfigure Evie in such a way. Quietly and with a great amount of contempt, the blue-haired girl wryly repeated her mother's golden precept as it was drilled in her since birth: "After all, appearance is everything."

Evie looked up, staring devastatingly at her friend's revolted expression, that she knew could only be directed towards her inner failures: failure to be evil enough, failure to be the perfect daughter, failure to surpass unreachable expectations. Evie sighed, _Why can't Mal just see how truly amazing she is?_

Unable to stand this tense, sad atmosphere any longer, the fair princess snapped out of her depressing thoughts and walked over to her best friend. She stood just behind Mal, ready to cheer her up. "Beautiful! I know," Evie said hotly, "I'm a genius. No need to thank me, honestly." This almost brought a smile to the other girl's face... almost. Evie, however, pretended she didn't notice the change and continued on, "A few more hours though, and you might even rival me for fairest of them all." This wasn't merely a simple comment; Mal knew that this was Evie's highest form of regard, because nothing could mean more to the teen than her beauty. Still refusing to outwardly show emotion, Mal kept to herself just how much that comment meant to her, but Evie, as astute as ever, already knew.

In a move radiating maturity, Mal decided to reply with a glower directed at her blue-haired companion. She was more grateful then her pride would ever let her admit at having met such an awesome person. She knew how lucky she really was in that aspect, but of course, she'd never confess to having such sappy feelings, at least not in so many words. She would _especially_ never confess to thinking of herself as _beautiful._ Such vanity was left to princesses, even if a small part of herself felt giddy over the very well-executed make-over. So in a show of stubbornness, Mal continued to sneer and refuse to admit that she actually liked her reflection. Evie, as easy going as ever, brushed it off and replied, "Oh, stop with that expression. We both know you love it." Mal was just about to roll her eyes when a knock was heard from the door. "Eeeeeee, he's here!" Evie squealed and rushed to answer.

Mal let herself release a small smile, since no one was looking, of course, and snuck one more look at herself in the mirror before walking off to greet their guest.

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 **Well, that's the end of the first part of Mal's big date.**

 **I have BIG plans for the second part of this story, especially a scene where Ben realizes that the love spell wore off.**

 **I can't be the only curious what went through the young prince's mind at that moment.**

 ****As you may have noticed, I referenced the book _Isle of the Lost_ a few times in the story. For those who have never read the prequel, the villain kids had to go to school just like they do in Auradon. One of the classes they had to take was evil schemes which was taught by Lady Tremaine. In the first book, Mal is considered one of the top students in the school… well, mostly implied, since she was always plotting something evil on her schoolmates and since her mother was the most feared on the island. Not surprisingly, as a result, Mal was the most feared in school. There is a part in the book, when Lady Tremaine is giving Mal a hard time about her evil scheme of the year project. Since Mal is the daughter of the Mistress of Darkness, it is expected that Mal would surpass common expectations and plan something that would leave a mark for years to come. Long story short, Mal had to redo the assignment, because it wasn't evil enough. I used that idea but tweaked it a bit, especially since Mal couldn't go through with it by the end of the book, ultimately disappointing her mother, hence her punishment.**

 **So LMK what you think so far, and I'm always open to comments, criticisms (only the constructive kinds please), and ideas for other scenes to expand on.**

 **Be on the look out for part two of** ** _The Preparation_** **entitled** ** _The Date._** **I hope to have that story out soon.**


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